Eyes on the King
But I do not account my life of any value nor as precious to myself, if only I may finish my course and the ministry that I received from the Lord Jesus, to testify to the gospel of the grace of God. -Acts 20:24
The book of Acts tells an amazing story, following the acts of the Apostles after Jesus has risen from the grave and ascended into heaven. The Holy Spirit arrives at Pentecost, Stephen becomes the first martyr, Saul becomes Paul and is redeemed, Paul goes on missionary journeys, churches are planted in cities, Christians are persecuted, and we see the faith of many ordinary people lived out. It is a truly remarkable, historical book that details the beginning of the Christian church.
Luke writes about Paul’s journeys to plant churches. Toward the end of the book, Paul goes back to Ephesus to talk with the Elders. He is ultimately on his way to Jerusalem where he is quite sure he will be arrested, imprisoned and likely killed. He is undeterred, however. He has already seen the grace of God do miraculous, amazing works. He has seen dead people come back to life, he has seen prison doors open and prisoners set free (literally) with the jailer set free spiritually. Paul is not afraid of anything man can do to him.
At some point in the counseling room, this is a passage that I will bring every counselee to. Before we dive into specifics in the counseling room, my desire for you is to have a starting point that offers freedom from sin. Our culture is wrapped up in pleasing others, looking better than our neighbor or doing everything in our own might to find freedom which just makes us tired. This small verse helps to peel all of that back and start moving our eyes from ourselves to our great God.
God-given Self Awareness
Paul also has a sure understanding of who he is and what his motive in life is.
Acts 20:24 says that Paul doesn’t give value to his life. There is nothing precious about it. Friend, can I ask how often we consider the worth and value of ourselves? How often do you hear phrases like “…find your worth in Jesus” or “your value comes from God”? Both sound good and Biblical. I think more than anything they exist to make us feel good about ourselves. Very well-meaning friends will throw out these types of phrases as a way to encourage the downcast. However, I am convinced that they still do more harm than good. They tell us more lies than truth.
The first part of verse 24 challenges us on this idea that we have worth. The phrases that our friends, our leaders, perhaps even our pastors use, do one thing wrong. In an attempt to point us to Jesus for worth, we are still finding value terminates on us. “Your value” is the idea, right? Paul is saying in this verse that his life has no value. Even knowing who Jesus is and what he has done and is doing for the church in this time.. Paul is quite ok saying that his life has no value. How can he do this? Because he knows that he is by nature a sinner. Romans 3:23 tells us that we are all sinners and fall short of the glory of God. John 15:5 tells us that apart from God, we can do nothing. We can do no good thing. By nature, we are not good people. The phrase that people say, “well s/he is a really good person” is just not true. Because we are sinners.
We are not good. We can do no good thing. This isn't as bad as it sounds though. And, I do realize it sounds grim. When we begin with a clear self-awareness of our need for something outside of us to change us, then the cross becomes much more beautiful.
Paul knew this well and had become extraordinarily comfortable with this truth. After all, it was just a few chapters earlier in the book of Acts where we see Saul holding the coats of those who killed Stephen.
God-given God Awareness
Paul was far more concerned with God than he was with himself as we see in the second part of verse 24. His goal was to finish his course well and that course was to tell of the gospel of the grace of God. Paul was aware that if anyone could find some confidence in himself it was Paul. He lists his credentials in Philippians 3:4-6. He was the Hebrew of Hebrews. He was from the best tribe. When it came to being a Jew, there was none better than Paul. Philippians 3:2 is a warning, however, to not put any confidence in the flesh, even if we think we have credentials to stand on. Why should we put no confidence in ourselves though? Aren’t we always trying to do well, gain affection for doing well, and be a good Christian? If we have no confidence in our flesh then why are we doing anything that could be considered good in our society? Philippians 3:7-11 is why. Any good we do should be counted as a loss for the chance to get to know Jesus and be made like him. Paul knew this all too well. He was saved from being the best of the worst. We are no different. When we work to do better, we are still sinning by not simply resting in what Jesus has done. We also need to be saved from being the best of the worst. As sinners, we have all been against God. Whatever we could possibly gain from this world does not give us worth. Whatever people could say against us and whatever the world uses to tear us down, can’t actually do much. We are already sinners, begging at the cross.
The next logical step is to ask God for more awareness of God.. First Peter 1:3-10 is the hope that we cling to. We are reminded to rejoice in the Lord before all things, that he has brought us salvation through Jesus, and the promise of heaven is coming. Our suffering has a purpose and if our suffering has caused us to turn inwards then we are not fulfilling that purpose. Verse 7 teaches that our suffering should bring us more awareness and praise for Jesus, not ourselves for simply getting through it. Grow in your love of him and you will enjoy him more and your suffering will grow less grievous.
Eyes on the King
You might ask yourself, as many ask me in the counseling room, “but how do I live like this?” Verse 9 in Philippians 3 tells us that Paul's righteousness comes from nothing he does, rather it comes from faith in Christ. Second Corinthians 4 encourages us when we are tempted to fear what people are speaking about us or if our work is good enough. Verse 18 is quite assuming of us since it begins with “as we look…”. We are already looking for people, things, money, power, influence and ourselves to bring us satisfaction and peace and redemption. We must turn our eyes to what is unseen, the eternal. We must turn our eyes to the King. Friends, do you have a faith in Christ that is deep in your bones? Do you remember the sin you have been saved from? Do you realize that you still sin, even today, and must cling to the cross? Do you know that your value and worth comes from the fact that God is pleased with Jesus, not you? That is your hope. Your worth must terminate in what Jesus has done, nothing you can do, nothing that somebody says about you - whether good or bad. So, resolve to do as Paul did in Acts 20:24. Make much of the change that Jesus has done in your life! Know and think of the gospel of the grace of God all the time and proclaim it in your words and actions. You will find the troubles of this world growing dim while the glory of heaven brightens more and more each day.
Grace and peace,
Lindsey
