This post contains an 8-minute excerpt from a sermon by Dr. James Boice, about Paul’s trial before Festus.
The excerpt from the message spoke of how believers must deal with the world if they would follow Christ. In that portion, Dr. Boice spoke of how Alexander Solzhenitsyn wrote of facing such trials when he was placed in the Soviet prison system. Boice’s quote came from Solzhenitsyn’s work, The Gulag Archipelago; he framed it as the correct perspective of a follower of the Lord Jesus Christ.
The quote actually explains Jesus’ words: deny yourself, pick up your cross and follow Me.
From the YouTube site: Alliance of Confessing Evangelicals
Sermon text: Acts 25:1-12
Dr. James Boice of The Bible Study Hour
8 minute excerpt [plus 2-minute trailer identifying the site]:
Sermon (excerpt) HIGHLIGHTS:
- How are we going to stand for righteousness in a world that calls us to compromise in order to be accepted, to get ahead…?
- Three things to note:
- One: God’s sovereignty in all circumstances – He knows what you are going through… His plan for you
- Two: You must know the scriptures. Situations we face are rarely black and white. In such gray situations, we must also lean on God for guidance
- Three: Be willing, if necessary, to pay any price to remain a faithful servant of the Lord Jesus Christ
- Some were called to be martyrs
- Some other things, we value as much as our lives, must be sacrificed: reputation; esteem of friends and family…
- An example from the Gulag Archipelago that explains Christ’s requirement of His followers to deny self, pick up cross and follow Him
- Solzhenitsyn speculated as to why some prisoners survived in the Russian prison system and why others did not, he concluded the following:
- As one enters the system, he must say to self:
- My cozy life is behind me; my life is over; I am doomed to die, sooner or later, better sooner
- My family is of no use to me; my possessions are of no use to me; even my body is alien to me
- Nothing now matters to me but my soul…
- Only the prisoner who has renounced everything will gain the victory
- You and I are servants, slaves, prisoners of Jesus Christ
- The only way we will be able to stand against the world, is if we give up everything to follow Him
- Why would we be surprised, that is what Jesus did
- Is that tragic?
- Not at all, that is the victory that overcomes the world, even our faith of Jesus Christ
Link to 35-minute sermon from which the excerpt was taken: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yIS8b705cIU&list=LL&index=1
Link to Alliance of Confessing Evangelicals video page: https://www.youtube.com/@Alliance-Video/videos
Narrative that accompanied the above sermon at YouTube:
“One of the amazing things about the work of God in the life of a believer is the way He uses circumstances to bring about His ends. That was certainly true in the life of Paul, as a long string of circumstances brought him to the court of Festus, a decisive judge who would usher the Apostle along to his final destination. Join Dr. James Boice next time on the Bible Study Hour as he studies Paul’s trial before another Roman governor.”