 Amen. Acts chapter 14. So keep your place there. We're going to finish up Acts chapter 14 this evening. So we're looking at the end of the missionary journey. Remember, this is an out-and-back trail. So if you take a look at your map, we're coming to the end of the trail, and then, of course, we have the return journey. So if you look down at your map, where are we at? We're in Lystra. We're going to start in verse number 19 this evening. So what's happened so far? They've already gone to Cyprus. Remember, they stopped at two places on the island of Cyprus, and they got into port at Perga. And that's when John Mark took off. And you can see, as there is a little bit of a controversy about John Mark leaving, you can see that quite a bit has happened since he left. So he missed a lot. So he took off when they hit Perga, coming in the one way, coming up to Antioch. John Mark left. They went to Antioch. They went to Iconium. And now they're in Lystra. So we're picking up in verse number 19. So if you look at your map, they're in Lystra, almost at the very end of the trail. Of course, they have to go back. But look at Acts chapter 14 and verse number 19. They just got done being, you know, they were being worshiped. You know, as Paul healed a man, and then they thought they were gods, and called them Jupiter and Mars. And, you know, all these, we talked about that. We talked about that because of, and I'm sorry, Mars and Jupiter and Mercury. We compared that with the Greek gods last week. But here, they just kind of rebuked the people and said, we're not gods, you know, and in verse number 19, we pick up the story in Lystra where it says, and there came, now something else happened. So we have a shift in the story here in verse number 19. They just corrected the people saying, we're not gods. Don't worship us. Okay. And look at verse number 19. It says, and there came certain Jews from Antioch and Iconium. Now look at your map, and you see they're in Lystra, and they came from Antioch, and they came from Iconium. So here, the people that did not believe, the Jews that did not believe that were stirring people up in Antioch and Iconium, they came after them in Lystra. So you have to think about this for a minute. Just put yourself kind of in the scene here. Basically, these places are, you know, if you look at the map, they're, you know, 30, 40 miles away and 20 miles from Lystra. So when you look at it, maybe 60 miles where these people came from, and they walked. So they basically got people fired up, they got a mob together, and they traveled to Lystra. You know, it's like somebody coming from Merced or something and getting a big group of people and walking to Fresno, you know, to come after you or to come after me or whatever. So these are pretty motivated people, all that to say that. But look at verse number 19. It says, certain Jews from Antioch and Iconium who persuaded the people, so they get this mob together, they came to Lystra, they persuaded this mob, and then it says, and having stoned Paul, drew him out of the city, supposing that he had been dead. So that's quite a verse right there. There's a lot that happens in that one verse. This group comes from Antioch and Iconium from 40, 50, 60 miles away. They get all the people, they get a mob together in Lystra, and then they stoned Paul, alright? And look, it says they stoned him. Three things happen here. They stoned him, then they drew him out of the city, meaning they stoned him and they dragged his body out of the city and they left him for dead out. So they thought he was dead. So first of all, this is a miracle right here. If you look at 2 Corinthians chapter 11, I'll just read it for you. 2 Corinthians chapter 11. Paul says, thrice I was beaten with rods, once I was stoned, thrice I supper shipwrecked. So he's saying once I was stoned, this is what he's talking about right here. This is the time that Paul was stoned. Let me just say this. I've never heard of anyone ever at any time in history being stoned and living through it. I mean being stoned is like literally many times they like bury you like up to your waist or up to your neck or whatever, put you in a pit, and they literally throw rocks at your head until you're dead. So I mean it's a pretty violent way to be killed, to be executed. So they suppose they thought he was dead. He clearly took some shots here is what I'm trying to say. He was clearly in a bad way when they thought he was dead. This was definitely a miracle that God kept him alive or brought him back from the dead one of the two. That he didn't die here. It's as supposing that he had been dead. So they thought he was dead and then God had miraculously protected him here. So that's quite, I mean it doesn't get any more violent than that is what I'm trying to get you to understand. These people, it's not like they could get madder at Paul and Barnabas. They were as upset as you possibly could be. They went and they stoned Paul. They thought he was dead. Miraculously God protected him and kept him alive. Look at verse number 20. The Bible says, How be it as the disciples stood round about him, so here they had drug him out in the city, dropped him out outside the city and the disciples stood round about him. He rose up and came into the city and the next day he departed with Barnabas to Derb. Derb or Derby I'm not sure what the proper pronunciation there is, but that's the last point, the last city of the map right there. So that's the last point. So here they, he gets up and they go to another city. He goes to the last city that they're going to and it says in verse number 21 it says maybe they're just going to take a break and they're going to just rest for a while. It says in verse number 21 it says, And when they preached the gospel to that city and had taught many, so Paul goes through this hugely violent experience. God protects him. God makes, doesn't let him die. The disciples grab him. He gets up. He's miraculously saved from death here and then they go to the last city they're going to and they immediately start preaching the gospel again there. And then this is the most amazing part of the entire journey right here in my opinion. In verse number 21. So think about this journey, just think about this whole journey so far. Let me just recap for you. They sailed from Antioch and they went to Cyprus. While they were in Cyprus they met the sorcerer. They were trying to get the governor of Cyprus to stop listening to the gospel. They went through that situation. They made two stops there. Then they went to Antioch. Then they went to Iconium where people were attempting to stone them already. So it says that they were attempting to stone them in Antioch and Iconium and they escaped onto Lystra. So Lystra is where he heals the man. They start calling them gods. And then at that point Paul, as we just saw, Paul is literally stoned. So there is some massive pushback against Paul and Barnabas at this point. And then they end up in Derby and they preach the gospel there. But now look what they do. Look what they do now. Look back at your maps and look at the last part of verse number 21. And it says, And they returned again to Lystra and to Iconium and to Antioch. They went back. They went back the same way that they came. I mean, look at your map. They could have went over to Tarsus and went back down the coast back to Antioch. It would have been a much quicker journey. But instead they turned around and they went back the exact same way that they came. Look at verse number 22. You say, why? Why? Look at verse 22. It says, Confirming the souls of disciples and exhorting them to continue in the faith and that we must through much tribulation enter into the kingdom of God. So they did a few things here. They went back and confirming the souls of the disciples. What were they doing? They were making sure that they were saved. They were making sure that they got the gospel and they understood the gospel and that they weren't adding stuff to it. And they understood it the first time confirming the souls. And it says exhorting them. And then what did they do? They exhorted them. They encouraged them to continue in the faith. Because look, is everyone they get saved going to continue in the faith in their life? No, they are not. So what are they trying to do here? They're trying to build a group of believers. They're trying to disciple the believers. And then they go back and they tell them they're exhorting them. Hey, continue in the faith. Why? Because the faith is going to cause you much tribulation is what they're saying. The faith, this faith, they're trying to encourage them. Why would they need encouragement? Because look what they've just gone through. You can about imagine how the believers that actually live in these towns are going to be treated by these same mobs and all these people if they're starting churches and they're starting to get together and preach the gospel and go out soul winning and all these things that they should be doing. So look, you know what they're doing? They're leading by example here. They're leading by example. They could have gone back the easy way and just written letters. Many times Paul wrote letters because he couldn't be in seven different places at one time. But these two men, they went back the same way they came through all that violence, through all that tribulation, just to encourage the believers. I mean, I bet you those people were kind of surprised to see him. Through these big uprisings, these mobs. I mean, many of them probably thought Paul was dead after they stoned him in Lystra. But look, they came back. Look, this right here is pretty much as fearless and heroic as it gets right here, folks. That's what I'm trying to get you to understand. They had total disregard for their own lives. And they just went back to do the work of the Lord, to exhort these people. Look at verse number 23. I mean, what were they actually, then what were they actually doing? Look at verse number 23. It says, and when they had ordained them elders in every church, they're planting churches. They're ordaining men to lead these people to grow these churches. Just out of total disregard for their own lives, though. I mean, bravery, you know, turn to Philippians chapter one. Turn to Philippians chapter one. These are some brave men. Bravery's kind of a funny thing. You know, I mean, some people, you know, if you just, you know, if you've ever read stories or just seen historical accounts of things that people have done in their lives, I mean, some people, just some regular people, they turn out to be pretty brave people. Other people, not so much. Okay, I'll talk to you in more detail about this with Sunday morning's sermon. But look at Philippians chapter one. You say, you say, how in the world did, I mean, how do I, I don't, you say, I don't feel like I'm brave. How could I be brave? Well, let's look at what Paul's reasoning is for his quote unquote bravery here. Look at Philippians chapter one and look at verse number 20. Paul kind of explains his thought process here. He kind of explains why, you know, he's so, it's not really called bravery here. It's called, as we saw in Acts chapter 13, it's called boldness. He explains his boldness. Look at verse number 20 of Philippians chapter one. Paul kind of explains you, maybe we can learn from this and this will make us more bold. Look at verse number 20. It says, according to my earnest expectation and my hope that in nothing I shall be ashamed. So he's saying, look, he's like, I'm not going to be ashamed. I'm not going to be quiet. I'm not going to stop preaching for anybody. Then he'll look what he says, but that with all boldness. He doesn't say, he doesn't say with a little bit of boldness. He doesn't say, you know what, on Mondays and Tuesdays I feel pretty bold, but then Wednesdays, Thursdays, and Fridays I'm not that bold. You know what he's talking about? He's talking about what we would call like bravery. We look at this map. We look at the man just got stoned. There's mobs coming after him. Mobs are willing to travel tens of miles to get him and he goes back the same way to where those mobs came from. It's like that big mob came from Merced after us and we're like, hey, let's go preach in Merced. Let's see how that works out for us. Look, that's boldness. And Paul's explaining his boldness right here. He says, I'm going to have all boldness. He's like, I'm just going to be nothing but bold. That's why a church like this and churches, friends of ours, that's why they seem so like they kind of feel like they punch you in the face sometimes, because nobody's bold anymore. That's why. Because nobody's bold. Everyone reads the Bible and they're like, oh, I'm not going to say that today. I'm not going to say that. I read a news article today that there was some Monday night football commentator that said, and I'll get to that later on in the sermon, but he said something about there's these referees calling on roughing the passer too much. He's like, hey, these people need to just take their dresses off and start playing football. He's basically saying they need to get tougher and everyone's after him and he needs to be fired and all this kind of stuff. It's like, look, nobody's bold anymore. We're a bunch of sissies in this country. But Paul says, I'm going to preach the gospel with all boldness. Is it visitors coming to this church? The first time I go like that or something, I was like, oh, people get scared. What's going on? Is this guy crazy? But look, it just says, Paul says, I'm going to have all boldness. I'm going to go back where they wanted to kill me and I'm going to preach the same thing that basically they wanted to kill me for. I'm just going to just have all boldness. How? How? He says, with all boldness, as always. So now also Christ shall be magnified in my body, whether it be by life or by death. So obviously we know that that's true. We obviously know that Paul doesn't really value his life all that much. Because if Paul was the kind of guy that was just like, I must live another day no matter what, he never would have done what he did. He never would have gone back this way. He would have been like, hey, you know, I need to stay alive. I need to stay alive. And the reason I need to stay alive, he could have justified it in so many ways. But he says, look, he's like, I'm going to have all boldness, as always. So now also shall Christ be magnified in my body, whether it be by life or by death. And look what he says in verse 21. He says, for me to live as Christ and to die is gain. What does he mean by that? What does he mean by that? What he's saying is, it's a win-win. He's like, it's a win-win. Turn to verse, I have to go to Philippians chapter 1. But look at verse number 23, or I'm sorry, verse number 20, hang on. For me, look, he says, for I am in a straight betwixt two having a desire to depart. So he's saying, I'm sorry, I led you astray. I was looking at the verses above. But he says, you know, in verse number, Philippians chapter 1 of verse 23, he says, for I'm in a straight betwixt two. He's like, I can't hardly decide. He's like, you know, I kind of go back and forth on this, is what he's saying. He's like, having a desire to depart, because he's like, if I die, I depart, and to be with Christ, which is far better. He says, nevertheless, to a bot in the flesh is more needful for you. So really, Paul, this is Paul's motivation right here. Paul's motivation is that, hey, you know, if I die, I'm with Christ. He's like, yeah, it's probably better for me to stay. It's probably better for you. He's like, it's better for you that I stay here. He actually says that he could really care less if he dies, because it's better for him, is what he's saying. Why? Because he gets to be with Christ. He's like, what are they going to take from me? He's like, Christ is glorified in my body on this earth, as long as what? As long as he has all boldness. If he's down here on earth, and he's like, he's afraid, and he's kind of like saying the truth sometimes, but he sees a mob coming at him, and then he doesn't say the truth because he's afraid, you know, someone will get mad at him or whatever. You know, look, that's not boldness. He's saying, I have all boldness, because what could they take from me? He's like, oh, what are you going to do? Send me to Jesus? That's what Paul is saying here in Philippians chapter 1. That's where he gets his bravery. You know, the irony is this goal, this goal of I have to live at all costs if you think about the opposite of bravery. The opposite of bravery. Like I said, I'll go into more detail on this Sunday morning, but just, I have to live at all costs. I have to, you know, do the safest thing at all costs. It's kind of like, you know, what would be the point of that life? You know, if you're just throwing everybody in front of you, and you never do anything that's bold because you just want to be safe all the time, it's like, what would be the point of living the life of a coward, basically, is what Paul is trying to get us to understand. I remember when I went from eighth grade into ninth grade, so ninth grade is a freshman in high school, I was like the smallest kid until I was junior in high school because I kind of just, I didn't really grow until I was a little older. But I remember I came into high school, we had to go to a different building, it was like a whole new group of people, and there was this bigger kid that like right away like zeroed in on me because I was like this littler guy. You know, and I remember this kid like, he came up and he was just like really giving me a hard time, and I was just like hey, alright, let's go. And he's like I'm gonna kick your, you know what? And I'm like maybe, it's like maybe you are, but it's gonna hurt, it's gonna cost you something, I guarantee you that, because I'm just thinking to myself like, and I never had to get in a fight with that guy. You know, thank God. But the point is, I'm just sitting there thinking like at least running away is no good because then you're living the life of a coward. You know, I couldn't, but that's the problem with people is they're just thinking like safety at all costs. But it's like what's the point of that life? And especially for us as Christians, Paul's literally saying like hey, why not be bold? Why not be bold and glorify God while you're on Earth? Through what? Through your body, what you do? And if they kill you, it's better. It's like yeah, you know what? As a Christian it's not that we don't have anything to lose. I mean of course, you know, if you died, I'm sure you would miss your wife and I'm sure you'd miss your kids and your family. But the point is to kill the Christian is to put him with Jesus. And that's a much better situation that he's in. Go back to Acts chapter 14 and look at verse number 23. So Paul kind of explains, you know, the logic behind, you know, how, where his boldness comes from. You know, he gives the logic behind it. He's like there's, it's a win-win. It's a win-win to be bold in your life. It's a win-win. Because even if they take your life away from you, then you're with Jesus. Look at verse number 23 and it says, when they had ordained elders, look, you gotta look for the win-wins in your life. People don't like think about situations in their life. When it's just, when you win either way, you gotta, when everybody wins in the situation, you gotta take those opportunities in your life. And being bold in the Christian life, it's a win-win. And I'll explain it to you. If you're like, well, it doesn't seem like persecution is really a win. I'll explain to you that it's a big win for you if you can go through it. Look at verse number 23. It says, when they had ordained elders in every church, they had prayed with fasting, they commended them to the Lord, on whom they believed. And after they, after that, now look at your maps. So here they are. They're planting churches. They're going, they're exhorting the people. You must, you must, you know, don't worry about tribulation. Look at us. We're not worrying about it. They're trying to tell these people to be strong in their faith, to continue in their faith. They're finding the strong men in these groups and they're ordaining these men. They're laying their hands on them and they're planting churches in this area. I mean, imagine if they didn't go back this way and they didn't start these churches and they didn't organize these things. Imagine the people that wouldn't have gotten saved. It's much easier to scatter people when people aren't organized under a leader. All right? So look, they went back and they started planting churches, kind of like us. That's how we got here, right? Because men, you know, had organized churches and they went out and they planted churches and they exhorted people to continue in the faith. Look at verse number 24 as you look at your map now. So here they are. They're in Antioch and it says, after they passed through Pesidia, they came to Pamphylia. So if you look at your map, they're going through, these are regions now. All right? These are regions. Pamphylia is the region right next to, it's a region of where Perga is. And look at verse 25. It says, when they had preached the word in Perga, which is in Pamphylia, they went down into Atalia and that's just to the left of Perga on your map. So they went and they hid an extra town when they were on the coast here and it says, and thence, and from there they sailed to Antioch. So there they went back, all the way back to Antioch from whence they had been recommended by the grace of God for the work which they fulfilled. No kidding, they fulfilled it. And when they were come, they gathered the church together. They rehearsed all that God had done with them. I mean, this is what this means, they rehearsed, like they told the story of this journey. All right? How he had opened the door of faith onto the Gentiles and they abode a long time with the disciples. So they went back and they told all the stories and remember, this was the first time when we saw the trip there, this was the first time that we saw the replacement theology doctrine really demonstrated very clearly in the Bible. We saw that, you know, the Jews in certain places they didn't believe so they went out to the Gentiles and many Gentiles believed. All right? So look, these men made a harrowing journey. They made a harrowing journey to get to Derb and then they went back the same way that they came back. So I want to talk about this evening is kind of an application of this. I want to talk about this idea because it's kind of an idea that it's really pervasive in our society, this idea of heroes. All right? I want to talk about this idea of heroes. You think about what you would think about a hero is today. Maybe people think about a fireman or a soldier. Things little boys look up to, want to be. They want to be these things. Things that they see that there's a lot of glory in. These types of things. Why don't you give me three problems with heroes today and our idea and show you how our ideas of heroes are wrong today and then give you an idea from the Bible on how we should define the heroes in our lives for our kids and for our families. All right? So I want to give you three problems first. Okay? There's three problems that I see with just this idea of heroes and how people choose their heroes and what they do with that. The first problem with heroes today is people kind of have heroes and then they want to live through those heroes. They want to have a hero for the sake of just, you know, living their life through somebody else's great achievements. This is wrong. Okay? This is wrong to have somebody it's not necessarily wrong to admire somebody or admire somebody's achievements but to just, you know, have a hero or somebody that you look up to or, you know, have respect for and they just live through that person and you have this fake life where you're living through somebody else. There's a lot of people like this today. There's a lot of people that have these heroes today and they just do nothing in their own life. But they're just living vicariously through some figure or some and many times this figure I'll, you know, give you some examples later isn't even real. Many times these figures are are fake or fragments of our imagination or we make people something that they're not all these types of things. The point is, you know, do something in your life is what the Bible teaches us that we should do. You know, people should actually want to go out and achieve things not just, you know, look at people that have achieved things. All right. Here's the second reason. The second problem with modern day heroes today and people's idea of heroes. So the first one is is that people are just living through other people. That's not what the Bible says. The second one is this. People, they define their heroes by people or by positions or by occupations that are just that have glory from people. They set their heroes up by, you know, these somebody that look, there's nothing wrong to have a job to want to have a job that helps people to want to have a job that does something for society around us or our community or anything like that. But look, you should not have a job just to seek glory from people. That's a wrong reason to have a job. This is why I'm just so irritated and I won't point out any names, but I've always been irritated with all these quote unquote heroes in our society that write books on how great of a hero they are. You know, some hero that just, he wrote a book and told you, like, look at how great of a hero I am. I've always had a problem with that. Because look, if you want to go and you want to do something great and do it just to seek glory from people around you and glory from the public or, you know, people, that is not the right reason to do things. So that's the second one. People have heroes or they want to be a certain type of person just to seek and have glory. And look, this is going to be a problem I'll explain to you in a few minutes for the Christian if you have that mindset. If you have that mindset where you need glory from people, you're going to have a certain life. Let me tell you that right now. Here's the third problem with heroes and then I'll start telling you how to fix these problems. The third problem is this. People have the wrong heroes. Let me give you the easiest example of this. Like a sports star. Like, are you kidding me? People are like, because, number one, somebody that is a hero as a sports star, what are they doing? Are they wanting to be a sports star themselves? You know, football today. I sit down to watch as a whole football game which is like the biggest waste of time I could possibly think of in my life. I've never done it ever. I couldn't stand it. I couldn't stand it when I would have relatives and all these people who would just sit down for like four hours long. But you're obviously not desiring to achieve that, that achievement as you sit there and, you know, eat Cheetos off your chest for four hours. I feel like, oh man, this is making me, I want to be like that athlete as you just sit here and just like pound calories and you can barely walk, you know, to the kitchen. You're so unhealthy at this point. But I mean, the point is, sports stars, most of these people are horrible human beings anyway. But they're good at, you know, kicking a ball or throwing a ball. It's the most bizarre thing I have ever seen. But this is what people worship today. Celebrities? I mean, what in the world? Many people maybe wouldn't even admit that a celebrity is their, is their hero. But look, people are obsessed with celebrities today. Like, you go to the mainstream media that don't even get me started on that. But you go there and like half the stories on the front page of any publication are stories of stupid, idiot celebrities. Who cares? But people care. People care. They're obsessed with these people. They're obsessed with, you know what they're obsessed with? They're obsessed with these people that these people receive. And they're obsessed with living through that glory. It's all wrong, folks. It's all wrong. People are living through these people that they shouldn't even be interested in. They shouldn't even be, they shouldn't even be admiring these people that have just are just wasting and ruining their whole lives. Alright? So let's get our hero definition right this evening. Look at chapter 11. Turn to Hebrews chapter 11. Hebrews chapter 11. And look at verse, I mean the whole chapter of Hebrews chapter 11 is basically these are the type of heroes that you should have. Right here. These are the examples that you should follow in your life. But let's just look at a few verses of Hebrews chapter 11. Look at verse 32. And you'll notice that there's a stark difference between these heroes, these people that we should look up to, these people as examples in our lives. You'll see there's a stark difference between this type of hero and the type of heroes that people are out to worship today. Look at verse number 32. It says, what shall I more say? I said for the time, I mean he's basically saying he's listed a bunch of people that have done great things for the Lord in their life. He's like, I wouldn't even have the time to tell you all the people that have done great things for the Lord in their life. So the important point is that he's listed in Hebrews chapter 11, but it is nowhere near a complete list. And I'm going to point out how that is relevant to us at the end of the chapter here. But look at verse 32. It says, for the time would fail me to tell of Gideon and Barrack and Samson and of Jephthah of David also and Samuel and of the prophets who through faith. Now look, these people did some pretty amazing things right here. It says, who through faith subdued kingdoms, wrought righteousness, so some of them did obtain promises. So some of them did great things. They obtained promises, meaning they got some glory. They stopped the mouths of lions, quenched the violence of fire, escaped the edge of the sword. Out of weakness were made strong, waxed valiant in fight. Look, this is a story of heroes right here. This is a real story of real heroes. It's turned to flight the armies of aliens. It's like, they turned entire armies away. These men. It says, women received their dead raised to life again. The prophets. Others, now there's a stark contrast right here. Draw just a line right there. There's a lot of glory and there were some promises up to this point. But some of them, but some of them what? Still heroes still did great things. But look, and others. Others, I mean, what were the ones up to this point doing? They're turning away armies. They're quenching fire. They're stopping the mouths of the lines. This is like, this is like book stuff. This is the kind of stuff that people would write books about. This is the kind of stuff that people would say, wow, that's amazing. That's amazing bravery. These are real heroes right here. But look at verse 35, right after the colon. It says, others were tortured. Not accepting deliverance. Well, that, see, what is that? You know what? That's bold. You know what that means? It means that they were being put into place and they were saying, hey, you know, just say, say you don't believe in Jesus. Or just say, look, if you're being tortured, let me ask you a question. This is a rhetorical question. If you're being tortured and they say, if you, if you just deny Jesus right now, if you're saved and you're being tortured and they say, deny Jesus right now and we'll kill you quickly. And you do it. Are you going to go to hell? No. You're saved eternally no matter what you do in that point. But these men, they wouldn't accept deliverance. These women wouldn't accept deliverance. They were tortured and they're like, you know what? What are you going to do to me? What are you going to do to me? Send me to, he's like, I'm going to be with Jesus here in a minute anyway. What's the difference? Look, it's just pure bravery is what we're talking about here. That they might obtain a better resurrection. You know what that says? God's going to take, God's going to reward those people. God's going to reward them even more. You know, God's going to, that's where their glory is going to be. They're going to have glory later is what the Bible is saying. It says, others had trial of cruel mockings and scourgings. You ate more over of bonds and imprisonment. I mean just, you notice how it says mockings and scourgings. You know what, people have always done with Christians. You know what, there's been a, I just read some articles a couple of weeks ago about just how this society, this science society, I think it was in England in the late 1700s. They pushed all the Christians out of this technical science society. And the reason, the way that they did it was they mocked them. So they would constantly mock the Christians. Whenever the Christian scientists would get up and they would talk about a creator and they would talk about anything they would purposely laugh. They would purposely mock them. And within 30 or 40 years this royal society was all atheists. What were they doing? They're just mocking the Christians. You think mocking, you think people mocking Christians is anything new? It's nothing new. So here they were being mocked. They were being beaten more. Yay, more over of bonds and imprisonment. They were thrown in prison. They were stoned. We just saw that. They were sawn asunder. They were literally sawn in half. They were tempted. They were slain with the sword. They wandered about in sheepskins and goatskins. Being destitute, afflicted, tormented. They're to the point where they couldn't work anywhere. They weren't accepted anywhere. They're literally walking around you know in poverty. And then look what verse 38 says of whom the world was not worthy. It says all these people all these people that they were beating them and scorching them and mocking them and even to this day when these things happen it's like the world is not worthy of these people that are willing to go through this. They wandered in deserts and in mountains and in dens and caves of the earth. And it says and these all having obtained a good report through faith received not the promise. What it's saying here is this list that I just gave you. There was people that did some really brave things turn back armies but it says there's a group of these people it says they received nothing. They received nothing in their life on this earth. Can anyone here say that? They received nothing. They received nothing but pain, suffering, scorchings, mockings and they had a good report through faith because they didn't stop and they kept going. No matter what. But look at verse number 40. It says God having provided some better thing for us that they without us should not be made perfect. Now this is a super important verse right here. Perfect in the King James Bible means complete. You know what it's saying here? You know what it's saying? It's saying it's saying that these this list of people this group of people that received nothing and did all these great things this list of people is not complete. Why? Because you could be part of this list is what it's saying. It's saying this list of people is not complete. You say I'm just a nobody. I've never really been good at anything. You could be on this list is what the Bible is saying here. You could do great things for the kingdom of God. This is an exhortation here. This is trying to tell you this is the verse number one of the very next chapter. This is trying to tell you look you look at all these amazing things and think about all these great things that these people did through faith. He's like that could be you. He's like you are to complete this list. You are to make this list of people perfect, complete. This is what he's talking about. Look at verse number one. He says wherefore seeing where also compassed about was so great a cloud of witnesses. He's like these people are watching you. It's like the best Christians that have ever lived are up in the grandstands in heaven watching how you do. He's trying to exhort you. He says lay aside every weight and sin which does so easily beset us. He's like these guys did all this. You could be as great as them. You could do as everything that they did. You could be in this list. You could do these great things for the kingdom of God and you're over there drunk. Is what Paul's saying. He's like lay that stuff aside and get moving with your Christian life because all these things are yours too. All of these responsibilities are yours too. Go back to Hebrews chapter. Go back to Hebrews chapter number 10 and let me just read you just a side note here. Look at verse number 38 of Hebrews chapter 10. You wonder why Paul got so mad when John Mark left? Because this is the kind of person Paul is. Look at verse number 38 of Hebrews chapter 10. He says, That's Paul. That's Paul. You know what? That's the boldness that Paul had and that's why he was intolerant to a degree of people that did not have that boldness. But thank God for his boldness and thank God for that example. So look, these, all that to say this folks, turn to 2 Corinthians. These people should be our heroes. Not some quarterback or whatever. Not some idiot on TV or whatever. But look, here's the thing you need to understand. Many of these people that I just listed, receive no glory. They receive no glory on this earth while they were living. But the point is this. Remember what I told you about problems with heroes. These people receive no glory from people around them and what the Bible is telling us in Hebrews chapter 11 with that last verse is it's telling you that we should be like them, not live through them. You should be like these men and like these women. Not live vicariously through them. You shouldn't read Hebrews chapter 11 over and over. Be like, oh that's great, that's awesome. I mean you should read Hebrews chapter 11 over and over but you shouldn't just be like, that's great, that's awesome, that's great and then do nothing. It's like no, you're supposed to actually, you're supposed to look up to them, look at that example, have that exhort you and be like them and do what they say. Not live vicariously through them. Like people do when they sit there and get drunk and watch a football game or when they sit there and watch some superhero movie or something. Is it only superhero movies now? Is that all that happens? You know, I wish I was Iron Man or something. What in the world? Grown men. Grown men, it's pitiful. But these should be our heroes and we should be like them. We shouldn't just live through them. Look at 2 Corinthians chapter 3. So you say, pastor, that's messed up. Where's my glory? You say, you know, where's my glory? You're telling me that I'm going to have a miserable life on this earth and there's no glory for me. Well, that's not entirely true. All right, as a matter of fact, it's not true at all. Look at 2 Corinthians chapter 3. Look at verse number 1. Look at 2 Corinthians chapter 3 verse number 1. Look what Paul says. He's like, do we begin again to commend ourselves? Maybe we should write a book on how spiritual we are. He's like, maybe we should just commend ourselves. I mean, look, if you're in this church and you're living the Christian life, you're doing some things that are right. Maybe you should write a book about how awesome you are as a Christian. But look what Paul says. He's like, do we begin again to commend ourselves? He's like, or need we. He's like, why would I even need to? As some others, epistles of commendation to you or letters of commendation from you. He's like, do I need to write you a letter? Paul's saying, do I need to write you a letter about how great I am before I come there? He's like, do I need to have people write letters to you about how great I am? He's like, do I need to have all these letters just like building me up? He says, no. He says, you are our epistle. You know what that means? It means he's saying the glory, his glory is in the people that he has gotten saved. He's like, you are my letter. He's like, you are my letter. Written in our hearts. Known and read of all men. He's like, whenever people go to that Corinthian church and they see all those people that are saved and they see all the people that have gotten the gospel and believed in the Lord Jesus Christ, he's like, that's my glory right there. He's like, that's my epistle. He's like, I don't need to commend myself because you're a witness. You're a witness of me. So no, you don't need to go write a book about how great of a Christian you are. Look at verse number three. And it says, for as much as ye, remember ye. Who's he talking to here? Is he talking to one person? He's talking to the whole church. He says, for as much as ye are manifestly declared to be the epistle of Christ ministered by us. You know what he's saying? He's saying that you are a witness of, that we preach the gospel to you. He's like, you are a witness, you're a witness of Christ that was brought through us. Not written with ink, but with the spirit of the living God, not in tables of stone, but in fleshly tables of the heart. So look, first of all, you know, the person who gets saved, if you go out soul winning and you actually lead somebody to the Lord, you know, that is a witness of the power of the gospel and that is a witness through you, all right? So, but that person, that person will appreciate what you have done for them. I guarantee it. If you go out and you give somebody the gospel and they realize that they weren't saved and they realize that they're on their way to hell and you tell them how to get to heaven and they believe on the word Jesus Christ and they are sealed in that moment and they are saved, look, they are going to appreciate you for that. They are going to appreciate you for that. But listen, most people, here's what you have to understand as a Christian, most people will not. Most people out there are not going to appreciate the fact that you're walking around and preaching the gospel to people. Most people just aren't going to appreciate it. Turn to Romans chapter 8. You have to just be ready for that. There's not going to be this massive, you know, public glory, you know, put upon you like you're an NFL quarterback. It's just, it's not going to happen in this life. But what's coming for you is better, all right? What's coming for you is better. You know, there is, you know, some appreciation from people that you do get saved, just like Paul is saying in 2 Corinthians chapter 3. Go to Romans chapter 8. Look at verse number 18. But the overwhelming majority of people are not going to appreciate the Christian who's out there, the Paul and the Barnabas who are going from town to town and then going back to the same towns. The majority of people are not going to appreciate that sacrifice. Look at verse number 18. This is for I reckon that the sufferings of this present time. That's how he says, you know, he names a time that the suffering is going through. The sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us. He's talking about, you know, hey, we're out there and we're revealing the glory of the gospel to people. Number one. And there's also glory coming for us. Look at verse number 23. He says, in verse number 23, he says, and not only they, so notice what he says in verse 18. He says, we're going through sufferings. He's like, but it's not even comparable to the glory that we're going to receive. To the glory that we're going to be able to give to people through the gospel, through Jesus Christ. And look at verse 23. He says, and not only they, but ourselves also, which have the first fruits of the spirit, even when we ourselves grown within ourselves, waiting for the adoption to wit the redemption of our body. He's talking about, you know, when he's risen and going to heaven. He says, for we are saved by hope. But hope that is seen is not hope. That's a pretty good statement right there. He's saying, he's saying, we have to, we're going to, I'm not going to go and be that NFL quarterback. You know, instead, I'm going to serve the Lord with my life and there may be little to no glory there. That's what he's saying. He's like, I just have the hope. Notice how it says, in hope of eternal life, in Titus chapter one, in hope of eternal life. That doesn't mean I wonder if it's there. It says, I just haven't, it means I haven't seen it yet. It says, in hope of eternal life, which God, that cannot lie, promised. So God promises us this. So it's not like you have to wonder about it. It's just, you don't have it yet. He's like, so if we had it, it's what he's saying in verse number 25. He says, or in verse number 24, we're saved by hope, but hope that is seen is not hope. For what a man seeeth, what do they hope for? So basically, if I come up to you and I say I'm going to give you $20, you're hoping I give you $20, and then I give it to you, are you still hoping? No, because I gave it to you. What he's saying is, you haven't seen it yet, but you know it's going to be there. He says, we hope for that we see not, then we do with patience, wait for it. You know what he's saying here? He's like, our glory's coming. Our glory's coming in eternal life. And you say, how great will it be? Well, compare finite number to infinity. I mean, you can't even, you can't do what? You can't compare that. You can't compare 90 with infinity, because it's infinity. Paul just said that in verse number 18. He says, we can't even compare. He says, I mean, eternal life. I mean, Pastor Jimenez put it this way one time. I mean, it's such a good analogy. But he said, he's like, what we do, think about your life. Your life is nothing. Your life is like a vapor. Your life is like water spilt on the ground. The Bible says, I don't care if you live to be 30, or you live to be 90, or you live to be 60. It doesn't matter. Our lives are like that. Why? In comparison to infinity. And the Bible teaches that our glory says, what we do for this tiny little, tiny little sliver, this tiny little piece of water spilt on the ground, it's like that. What we do for that time defines the glory of our eternity. Think about that. Think about that, because God says in Hebrews chapter 11, he's like, I'm going to repay them. They're going to see the promises. They're going to see that glory. So that, I mean, we can't even compare to how great it will be. It's just not right now. It'll be great. But turn to 1 Corinthians chapter 2. Turn to 1 Corinthians chapter 2. 1 Corinthians chapter 2, look at verse number 7. And I'll read for you 1 Peter chapter 1. You go to 1 Corinthians chapter 2. In 1 Peter chapter 5, verse number 1, the Bible says, the elders which are among you, I exhort, who am also an elder and a witness of the sufferings of Christ, and also a part of the glory that shall be revealed. Look at verse number 7 of 1 Corinthians chapter 2. It says, but we speak of the wisdom of God in a mystery, even the hidden wisdom not ordained before the world unto our glory. Talking about how he's going to save us through Christ, which none of the princes in this world knew. For had they known it, they would have not crucified the Lord of glory. It's saying, apparently all the rulers that were there when Jesus was there, they didn't understand this. Look at verse number 9. It says, as it is written, I have not seen nor ear heard, neither have entered into the heart of man the things which God hath prepared for them that love him. You have no idea. What the Bible is saying in Romans chapter 8 and verse number 18, and again here in 1 Corinthians chapter 2 and verse number 9, and in 1 Peter chapter 5 and verse number 1, he's saying, you're just going to have to hope. You're just going to have to hang on to hope, but there's nothing that can compare to it. There's nothing that you'll ever even be able to give an analogy for it. It's going to be so great, it's going to be so great that there's nothing I can say to describe it is what he's saying. So it's not that we're living this life of no glory. It's that our glory as Christians is going to be so great the Bible can't even use words that our finite minds can understand. It's kind of like the philosophy of spend it all now or save up. You have people that live their lives like, I'm just going to spend every penny that I have right now, but those people are always going to be sad when they're 65, 70 years old and they have nothing and they can't work anymore and they're just like, what do I do? They're in poverty. It's a bad analogy because nothing can cover what God is talking about here. The glory will be so great. The glory will be so great. Look at Matthew chapter 6. Go to Matthew chapter 6. This is the last place that I'll have you turn. Go to Matthew chapter 6. You say, but yeah, can I get in the Christian life and just kind of tell people how great I am? Can I go and do great things and then write a book about how great I am? You go to Hobby Lobby and everybody's got a book now. All these people have books. They're like, look at me, how spiritual I am. It's just book after book after book after book. Look at Matthew chapter 6 in verse number 1. The Bible says, take heed that you do not your own before men to be seen of them. Otherwise, you have no reward of your Father which is in heaven. It's like, all right, you want to go and you go out and do something good, like legitimately good. I mean, don't go boasting about it. Why? Because there's your reward then. That's what God is saying then. I mean, if you bust out a book on how many people you got saved or whatever, hey, maybe you're like a great evangelist and you go out and you just get a bunch of people saved all the time. That's a wonderful thing. But don't like burn up all your rewards here. You know, just hey, just be humble, stay humble. Look, having that kind of attitude is going to get you prideful and drunken and out of the Christian life anyway. Okay, but Jesus is basically saying, stay humble here, all right? It says when you do your alms, don't sound the trumpet before the offering plate goes around. Don't be like, look at that. He's basically saying like, be humble, stay humble. And the big lesson of Matthew 6 is that if you get prideful, you're going to get out of the Christian life, all right? But all that to say this, look folks, we need to have our, these men right here, Paul and Barnabas, these men are my heroes. The men and women of Hebrews chapter 11, these are my heroes. And I'm not looking at these guys. I'm not reading these stories and being like, oh man, that was great. I'm just like, how can I serve the Lord like that in my life? Where am I coming up short in my life? How are they so bold? How are they so bold? And how can I be that bold? Look, they're heroes. Heroes isn't even really a good word. It's more like they're examples. You know, they're a great cloud of witnesses. You think about what the Bible said in Hebrews chapter 12 and verse 1, these people are watching us. They are watching what we do. And what can I learn from this? How can I fix things in my life? How can I not get derailed by sin in my life? And how can I complete this list of Hebrews chapter 11 and make it perfect? That is what we should be looking up to. And that's what I wanted to really point out. Just the absolute boldness that they had. It wasn't just boldness of preaching the gospel. Preaching the gospel to a bunch of people that wanted to kill them. Then going to the next town and the next town and the next town and then going back for the people that they left behind. Look, there's no other better story of bravery than that. They just had no care for their lives. And I know it's a hard thing to wrap your head around, folks, especially with the day and age that we live in. Things are so comfortable for us. There's really no trouble in our lives yet. There's really no trouble for the Christian yet. You know, oh yeah, they get mad at you for saying certain things. Nobody's trying to cut our heads off. Nobody's throwing rocks at us yet. But we just kind of, you got to get in that mindset. You got to get in that mindset. Like what could they possibly do to us? Nothing. Take it all. Take it all. Up to and including my life. Look, I don't want to die. I want my kids to have a dad. I want my wife to have a husband. But you know, the worst case, I'm with Jesus. That's the kind of mindset that the Christian needs to have. Let's power heads and have a word of prayer.